HYBRID INNOVATION GOVERNANCE IN TOURISM VILLAGES: INSTITUTIONAL MEDIATION IN SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM

Abstract

Sustainable Community-Based Tourism (CBT) is commonly explained through community participation and local resource availability. However, growing empirical evidence indicates that these factors alone are insufficient to secure long-term sustainability in tourism villages. This study reframes sustainability as a governance challenge, focusing on the institutional capacity of communities to manage external interventions. Specifically, the study introduces the Hybrid Innovation Governance Model, which conceptualises sustainability as the outcome of institutional mediation over innovation processes. Using a qualitative case study of  Nepo Tourism Village in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis involving village authorities, community tourism organisations, village-owned enterprises, local tourism businesses, and youth groups. The findings demonstrate that local production systems such as tourism SMEs, homestays, and nature-based activities are necessary but insufficient for sustainability. Sustainability emerges when community institutions mediate the flows of capital, knowledge, and market access, ensuring that external support is collectively governed rather than directly captured by individual actors. Based on these findings, the study develops the Hybrid Innovation Governance Model, which explains why some CBT initiatives become resilient while others remain fragile despite similar resources and participation levels. The study contributes to CBT and sustainable tourism literature by shifting analytical attention from attractions and participation to the governance mechanisms that regulate innovation and external engagement in tourism villages.